“Safe Streets” in Playa del Rey Starts

By David Graham-Caso, Communications Director for Councilman Mike Bonin

The community-initiated initiative to make streets safer in Playa del Rey took exciting steps forward this month, and improvements are being made to better protect people in the neighborhood from speeding cars.

In recent weeks, crews from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation have been implementing a series of projects that will help make streets in Playa del Rey safer by calming traffic.

On May 21, crews began working on Vista Del Mar, which has been the scene of a series of horrible collisions, with pedestrians being killed by speeding cars. The city is restriping the street from Culver Boulevard to Imperial Highway, moving all of the parking to the west side of the street, creating U-turn pockets, and narrowing the road to one lane in each direction. This will make the street safer, create more parking inventory, reduce speeding, and curb the use of Playa del Rey streets as a short-cut from the South Bay to points north.

Also, on June 3, the Bureau of Street Services will begin the long-awaited resurfacing of Pershing Drive from Westchester Parkway to Culver Boulevard. When the resurfacing is done, LADOT will restripe not just Pershing Drive, but also Culver Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard to implement the community-initiated “Safe Streets for Playa del Rey Initiative.” Once the restriping is completed, all three streets will have one travel lane in each direction, as well as center turn lanes and bike lanes. The reconfiguration will help calm vehicle speeds through the neighborhood, with the goal of creating safer streets for people using all modes of travel: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

The “Safe Streets for Playa del Rey Initiative” is the result of a community-driven process, and as we enter the next phase of the project, your feedback and continued engagement is crucial. Please contact Mike’s Mobility Deputy Jessie Holzer at jessie.holzer@lacityorg or 310-575-8461 if you have questions, input, or if we can be of any assistance.

Comments (2)

How about admitting this was a colossal mistake and you have made the traffic even worse? This “Sean Spicer” moment is sad at best and comical at worst that you would actually try to explain away this public policy debacle.

Recent Comments

Craig { Great shot Rick You always seem to get it right Way to go } – 1302 8:45 PM

Bruce { Reta, thanks for the link - I listened to the entire segment. Mark Ryavec presented a very balanced argument as to why the Permanent Supportive Housing initiative would be a bad deal for residents. He seemed to be supportive of limited use of motels as transitional homeless housing. I have... } – 1302 6:47 PM

Rick Swinger { Thats very "Good News" Will Hawkins and Thank You and Your VNC Homeless Committee for that! The neighbors on the frontline all around 3rd and now Hampton Dr. are in desperate need of some type of relieve from all this pollution, safety and health problem we have been having here... } – 1202 10:19 AM

Will { The Venice Homeless Committee worked with Lava Mae to find a suitable new location for their shower program and they will open again down by the beach in the parking lot at the end of Rose very soon. It's just taken some time to get approvals for the necessary water... } – 1202 9:26 AM

Rick Swinger { As for the potable showers being moved to the parking lot I have heard this from two different sources.One who works for Park and Recreation so maybe someone should talk to Mr. Bonin office. I can never get a response from them.3rd St has an uncontrolled dumping problem from public... } – 1202 7:25 AM

Rick Swinger { My bad. I first reported that at 630am of Feb 6 after seeing these bathrooms being use at 530am in the morning and talking to a homeless guy who was using them. Seeing that the City had approved of these bathrooms 24/7 on Jan 27th reported here on Venice Update... } – 1202 7:11 AM

Roger of Venice { Will, I agree 100%. I also have to add, that the Air B&B'S are adding to the housing crisis as well. I really think you would agree that we have to address this crisis as well. } – 1102 8:29 AM

Will { 70% of all Homeless suffer from some form of physical, psychological or mental disability. Hard to hold down a job and care for yourself when you're disabled in any way. City officials need to stop pretending that this is just a housing issue and address the def I envied in... } – 1102 7:04 AM

john mcmanamy { So where exactly do all the campers fit? Are they "Mentally Ill" or "victims of domestic abuse". Or where they not included at all? How could they be ignored? } – 1002 9:06 PM

Resident { The reason why nothing was getting done was because Okulick sued them. I agree that they could be a lot more transparent, but the people against the BID have done everything to try to undermine it, Okulick is one of the biggest offender. } – 0602 1:46 PM